The present invention relates to an apparatus and system for card number, particularly in regards to card numbers used for bank cards, credit cards, etc.
Conventionally, the management or control of card numbers assigned to credit cards, ATM cards, cash cards, prepaid cards and the like as well as the control of the issuance of such cards, is generally concentrated in a so-called card center of the issuing bank or credit card company. That is, the handling of the card numbers and the issuing or production of the cards themselves is unilaterally carried out by such card centers. Consequently, branches of the bank or credit card company cannot freely or selectively issue such cards. Accordingly, since the handling and issuance of such cards are concentrated in such card centers as mentioned above, the following problems have arisen.
First, as the various functions required to issue such cards as well as manage the assigned card numbers are concentrated in a separate facility such as a card center, the headquarters and branches of bank and credit card companies cannot issue such cards directly to the customer.
Specifically, when a bank or credit card company receives a request for a card from a customer, the bank or credit card company (hereafter referred to as the issuing authority) forwards an issue order to the card center. Consequently, the time required from when the customer requested the card until the card is actually received usually requires at least a week. This makes it almost impossible to respond to a customers needs in a speedy or timely fashion.